One of my best friends from high school, Stephanie, died from breast cancer two years ago. She had battled the disease for years and just when things began to positively come together in her life, it came back with a vengeance and killed her.

Here's what I do know: talk is cheap. We repeat the mantra that "breast is best," but we give women few resources to breastfeed beyond a few weeks. We say we care about those with breast cancer by buying up pink products, but those efforts don't do much for those diagnosed with the deadliest form of the disease.

In return for our good fortune, each of us who is a breast cancer survivor or caregiver can join Barb in her tireless efforts to raise funds for IBC research and press for solutions to its mysterious and high mortality rate.

As a nurse who began my career on a busy oncology unit, I have long been a champion of cancer causes. But after I was diagnosed with invasive breast cancer at the age of 32 and became a patient myself, advocacy took on a whole new meaning.

I envision a world in which we live without fear of losing our breasts or our lives as a result of what we've eaten, touched or breathed because the environmental causes of breast cancer have been identified and eliminated.

Is the existence of the pink blogosphere a surprise? The Internet and a growing suite of digital tools makes communication more assessable to the average Jane and Joe. It is also a way to share, vent, and be very public or very anonymous whether one is in a big city or small rural community.

Every October I find myself wondering what's next. I find myself wondering what outlandish new breast cancer awareness campaign will surface. I wonder what new product will emerge transformed into its new temporary, tacky, pink version.

It's Breast Cancer Industry Month and the pink floodgates have opened. And again we ask: what have all these pink ribbon products and promotions done for women living with and at risk of breast cancer?

Pink ribbons are for breast cancer, dark blue ribbons are for colon cancer, and so on. But cancer is more a disease of genes than one of specific tissues, so the specialization of our research and educational efforts based solely on a given cancer's tissue of origin could have detrimental aspects.

It may surprise many people, but aside from the deadline, little has changed in breast cancer over the past 50 years. Breast cancer awareness is at an all time high. Yet there is an appalling lack of results to show for all of it.

The story of the pink ribbon is the story of how breast cancer prevention has been marginalized and the power of people to stand up to corporations. Few people know that the pink ribbon began as a peach ribbon for prevention.

You all remember that little government shutdown a handful of weeks back don't you? Doctors in lab coats stood behind members of Congress as we all worried about children currently battling cancer and those newly diagnosed.

An alarming 1 in 8 women will be diagnosed with the disease in her lifetime. That represents a 40 percent increase in just a generation. If the NFL teams on those pink-ribboned fields were losing that badly the fans would be booing and the owners would be swapping out coaches and players.

How the hell is a "Save the Tatas" mug supposed to save a life? In truth, it should say, "Save your money, go home, get naked, and check yourself not just for lumps, but for ALL the signs and symptoms that could possibly indicate breast cancer."